St Davids Day School

4700 Roland Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21210

16 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-K
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 19, 2023

We are a minority family who attends St. David's. My son is in the 3s. Prior to coming to this school my son was in daycare and very shy. Now he is a social little boy who runs into school everyday. He wants to play pretend school at home and tells me that we eat our healthy foods first!!! I'm so impressed with his vocabulary, reading and spelling. He even can do basic math. He has been there for about two months and his growth is amazing. I'm already dreading the idea of 1st grade bc he will not be at St. David's. Communication, drop off, learning, and playtime is wonderful. It's literally perfection and my not so shy boy is thriving.
Submitted by parent on November 25, 2022

We have two children in St. David’s for the past two years and we could not be happier. Ms. Avila is doing a fabulous job as director, and has been very transparent about COVID issues and demonstrated decisive and clear leadership. The teachers at the school are wonderful. They are warm, loving, creative, and playful. Our children are thriving and we feel confident they are getting an amazing education. In addition to the pre-school, there is no doubt the kindergarten’s outstanding reputation is warranted. Fellow parents have told us their kids who did the kindergarten program were far more advanced in their learning than that of other kindergarten programs. Best of all, this school has a wonderful community of parents, teachers, and parishioners. We are not even Christians ourselves but have found this community to be nothing but open and welcoming.
Submitted by other on April 23, 2019

St. David's is a wonderful pre-school. The facility is warm and welcoming and the teachers are experienced and professional. Every child is prepared to move on to the next level. The new director, Mrs. Avilia is a wonderful addition. St. David's is accommodating the working parent and added an enrichment program until 5pm. I highly recommend St. David's Day School....it has been a treasure for years!
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2018

St. David's has been a wonderful experience for both of my children (including our experience in kindergarten). The teachers are dedicated, warm, and effective. Our children have grown tremendously, both academically and socially/emotionally. We feel close with other families and teachers, and love that the school director greets each child by name every morning. I highly recommend St. David's as a preschool and a kindergarten.
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2018

We couldn't be happier with St. David's. I'll have a second child starting there in the fall. I'm surprised to read the parents' criticisms of the art projects/opportunities for the kids. My daughter has finger painted without direct many times, colored to her hearts content (whether inside the lines or not), had free choice in the application of items to projects, etc. She's also done other things that I hadn't anticipated, like helped to bake bread and muffins, enjoyed the new outdoor mud kitchen and helped to take care of the class fish/frogs. There are xeroxed coloring pages for the kids to use, if they'd like, as part of free-play upon arrival each day, but that isn't their "arts" time.My daughter LOVES school. I couldn't ask for more than that. She thinks of the other kids as her friends and I've been happy getting to meet the other parents. She loves gym and music (she often sings the songs from school at home). We also appreciate the events at the school during the year that provide an opportunity for parents to come and participate (Christmas Bazaar, Halloween Parade and May Fest/Hat Parade).
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2018

My two boys attend this school and we absolutely LOVE it. My one son is in the 3 day 3s class. His teachers are warm, enthusiastic, creative and very knowledgable about the kids. We had a mid year review and they wrote the most adorable paragraph about his progress and his personality at school. It was all SO accurate and fit him to a T. It was also so cute that they knew so much about him! In the 2s we also had a mid year progress report and I got a very positive 4 page report about all of the words, colors, letters and numbers that he knew. It was very impressive and something that I will cherish for forever. The crafts are absolutely adorable. The children complete them with their own hands, fingers and toes which helps them develop fine motor skills. They are so thoughtful about the different holidays throughout the year and VERY creative at tying them in with the different crafts. I cannot say enough good things about the Kindergarten. As an educator myself, I was VERY impressed by all my son had learned already in just September. Because of the small class size they really do not have to focus too much on getting to know the school and routines. They can jump right in - my son already knew 20 words in spanish the first week! The teachers are very receptive too - I mentioned that I thought my oldest needed a little help with drawing a square and they were on top of it that day - and used methods to help him that I didn't even know about. I love this school. I love the caring farm type atmosphere as opposed to a large factory just pushing out kids.
Submitted by parent on November 21, 2017

We have seen a downward trend over the past 8 years in the organization, quality of the teaching and the general environment here at St. David's. We are parishioners and feel that we need to support the school, but the Kindergarten has been such a disappointment.
Submitted by other on January 25, 2017

We are parishioners of St. David's Church and felt obliged to attend the school and were unfortunately very disappointed. The director is certainly polite and friendly, but allows the teachers to run the school. For the most part the teachers are in fact not certified teachers, but have worked at the school for a long time. In the 2's and 3's, the teachers pre-cut and pre-draw all of the artwork or have the children color-in identical pictures. Kindergarten is unpleasant - they are desperate to try to compete with the full day Kindergarten's in the area academically and it is mostly stressful for the children. Two of the teachers are unkind and that is not acceptable in a preschool where love and nurturing is best for children.
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2015

While I agree on the surface the director seems lovely and the teachers experienced, I found with my child that communication was lacking. I received little feedback on my child's progress, mainly because the teacher did not seem to know how to assess the students. The three hours a day of schooling seemed more like social time for the teachers.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2014

Our 2 kids have been attending St. David's for about a year. We chose it after visiting a total of 4 schools and doing a lot of online research. Our first choice was up in Towson but we didn't want to commute with the kids every day. Unfortunately, there aren't many preschool options in the Hampden-Roland Park area within out price range. As said by other parents, this school is very well administrated -Director is lovely and always willing to help-, teachers are experienced and parents are involved. The school is clean and the playground is great. Unfortunately, there is in my opinion a big problem with this school: its method. My kids are in the 2's and 3's (I can't speak for the older classes), and all they bring back home has been made mostly by the teachers, with minor participation from them. Teachers pre-cut, pre-choose colors, pre-trace, pre make. It is in my understanding that, regardless the philosophy behind it, not allowing the kids to choose by themselves, do by themselves and ultimately think by themselves seriously diminishes their ability to develop and grow whole. This could be a truly amazing school if they updated their method to today's standards.
Submitted by parent on August 04, 2011

Our two children have spent a combined total of four years at St. David's Day School to date and our third will be entering in the Fall. We have enjoyed every year. The school provides a nurturing learning environment for the children and is filled with experienced, loving and professional teachers. The Director is highly respected in the educational community and her years of experience working in Baltimore schools were a tremendous resource to us as we familiarized ourselves with the elementary schools and application process.
Submitted by parent on July 27, 2011

St. David's is a wonderfully warm and nurturing environment! My two children have spent a combined total of four years there so far, and our experience has been completely positive. The Director is an absolute gem; involved, professional, and exceptionally competent. Thanks to her and to the many wonderful teachers there, both of my children simply love school.
Submitted by parent on July 27, 2011

When we moved to the Roland Park area I enrolled my youngest of three kids. My older two had attended a combined four preschools, this was our fifth. St. David's is a great school. It's nurturing, friendly, accommodating, the kids love it, and there is a real sense of community there. The teachers are all experienced--most have been there for a dozen years or more. The director comes from a private school environment and knows what the kids need--academically, socially, and emotionally. The administration works hard to make sure that kids who are having trouble succeed, but not at the expense of the rest of the children. We had a first rate experience there for three years, and my child is moving on well prepared for kindergarten.
Submitted by parent on July 25, 2011

This is the best preschool in Baltimore! I am a parent of two current students and have been overwhelmed by what a wonderful experience it has been so far. The teachers are amazing and the Director is widely recognized as the best in the area. It is such a nuturing environment for children while also offering a sound educational curriculum. And we have loved meeting the other families that make up the Day School. Everyone seems genuinely happy to be there, willing to help out, and invested in the experience. My children have loved every moment of this school so far and so have I!
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2011

This is the best preschool in town. I have had two children graduate from St David's in the last 6 years and go to top elementary schools fully prepared for the workload. Not only is this school nurturing and caring but knows the best way to educate and socialize toddlers. The teachers are all amazing (most of them teaching for 10+ years). The Director is known to be one of the best assets in town for any school. She not only greets all children every morning, but helps them through their days and years at the school and also provides in-depth advice to parents on "how-tos" including school admission process. If there were issues (as alluded below) they would have been handled by the Director, the School Board and the Church who are very involved. As a parent volunteer, I found the school to be well-run, professional, loving, fun and the best community to join. This year on our final day there, I noticed all of the children smiling and all of the moms tearing. Moms hugging their friends, their children's teachers and anyone who played a role in their St. D's experience. We loved every day there and are sad not to be walking through those red doors next year.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2011

My two children had fantastic experiences at St. David's Day School. The preschool has numerous strengths, but I think one of its largest is its focus on providing a nurturing environment for children to interact pro-socially and learn school readiness skills in a team-oriented, group environment. The school's Director and teachers are seasoned professionals, and their vast experience is obvious when one observes how smoothly the preschool operates. We also found the community of families to be very welcoming and invested in helping keep St. David's Day School such a wonderful place for our children.